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News04-03-2010Finally ... positive news ahead for the All England tournament.It has been a while since I've written in here, but there hasn't been much positive to write about lately. After our cancellation of the tournaments in Korea and Malaysia in January, we also cancelled Danish Championsship in the beginning of February. Joachim wasn't quite ready, so we didn't want to take any chances. We haven't played All England together before, so we are very excited, both because All England is one of the biggest tournaments, but also because we haven't played any tournaments in 3 mounts. The last time we played a tournament was in December in Malaysia, where we won the season finals. I'm so excited to get over there and play.In the team matches for Greve everything has turned out just the way I wanted. The team has won every game they qualified for and I won, along with teammate Kamilla Juhl, the women's doubles. Great!I have prolonged my contract with Greve for another season. I'm very happy about that :-)
17-01-2010 Another cancellation to Malaysia OpenUnfortunately, Fischer and I are still at home in Denmark. We are not going to Malaysia to regain or prepare our semifinal from last year. Fischer is not ready to play yet, so the decision wasn't hard to make. In the next few weeks it is important to get Fischer a 100% ready, because we have a tough time ahead of us, with many tournaments. We are keeping our spirit up, even though it is tough not to attend the tournaments. But we will get out on the other side, even stronger. Just wait and see!
17-01-2010 Cancellation to Korea OpenUnfortunately, Joachim and I had to cancel our trip to Korea Open SS, which are played since Wednesday. The last three weeks Joachim have had some knee problems and unfortunately he hasn't recovered a 100%.
16-12-2009New pictures from Japan Open, Denmark Open and SS FinalsClick here and have a look
10-12-2009 Super Series Finals – A VICTORYIt was so great that we won the entire tournament in Malaysia last Sunday. The tournament started with a defeat to Poland, but fortunately for us, it didn't have further impact in the tournament. We won the rest of our matches. We won the final quite convincingly against India, with the results 21-14 and 21-18. Our plan was to step forward on the court, and we succeeded that very well. Most of the match we were in control. It was fantastic to play out there, and off course even more fantastic to win. It is our first victory in the East; which makes this even more special for Joachim and me. Merry Christmas everyone! A great big happy smile from me
30-10-2009Denmark Open 2009How great was that – we did it again.Joachim and I won Denmark Open again this year in Odense.It was quite amazing that we won the final against Anthony Clark and Donna Kellog from Britain.Through the tournament we had some great matches, where we had to fight very hard to win. Especially the semi final against Poland was close. We were behind with one match point, but we kept cool, and won the game. GREAT!The final on Sunday - We won the first game 21-16. We played very well and had the upper hand on our opponents. The second game was a true nightmare. I think we lost 5 match points before the British couple won the game 27-25. SHIT!Joachim and I were determined to win and although we had every opportunity to win in the second game, we fought hard to win the third game. During the game, we were one step ahead, but by the score 15, they made contact. Afterwards we increased our lead, and we won the game 21-17. AMAZING!!This year we were seeded as favorites, and the fact that we went all the way is amazing. Denmark Open is OUR tournament. ☺We are already on our way towards new goals and challenges. We have already gone to Paris to play French Open. More about French Open later…
08-10-2009
Runner up in Japan OpenUnfortunately, Joachim and I didn't win at Japan Open. We were probably as close to winning, as we could be, since we lost the 3rd and decisive game 22-20. That sucks! We won the first game 21-13. We were on top of the game, but unfortunately for us, the second game turn out very differently. Our opponent started a lot better, which made it very difficult for us. We tried to keep up, but without any luck. They won the second game 21-16.The third game was a true nightmare. We actually had a very good start and at the interval we had the lead of 11-7. We should have extended our lead at this moment, but it was easier said than done. Our opponent played well, and it was difficult for us to extend out lead further. They slowly caught up, and it resulted in the score 18-18. From this moment on, we were constantly behind. They won the game 22-20. It was very unfortunate that we didn't win, because we definitely had the opportunity to go all the way. One great thing we got out of this tournament in Japan, was the 2nd place. A very good result for us. Perhaps equally important to us were, that we got our revenge from the World Championsship, in the semifinals. All in all, we are very satisfied with our performance, even though it would have been nice with a victory. But we have to wait for this opportunity until next year.
21-07-2009
World Championships ahead
The training for the World Championships is well under its way, and my form is getting good. This is my first individual Championship and I cannot wait. It is in Hyderabad, India, which probably will be quite different from when we usually travel in countries as China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea etc. We are prepared to face more challenges than usually, so bad food, chaos and poor conditions will not surprise us if it occurs during the Championships.
We leave for India in two and a half weeks, and the draw is published in less than a week. Fischer and I will be seeded 5-8, but we have to wait for the 23rd of July to find out who we face.
My parents are travelling with me to India, and I am very excited about having support from home :-)
I will write again when the final draw is published.
20-06-2009
It’s going great in Indonesia
1
round: We met a couple from Taiwan who we did not know much about. We
had never played them before, so focus was on our own game. After
playing in Singapore, we had to get used to the hall in Indonesia,
Istora, which is very different. The wind is different on each court,
so it’s good to get used to the court quickly. The people in Indonesia
LOVE badminton. It is so cool playing here; you can really feel how
excited they are. You get chills when you are on the court!
We
had an okay start. Our game was not perfect, but considering the
conditions, it was a good start on a new tournament. We won 21-14,
21-19.
2
round: We played the All England finalists from Korea. They are a
rather new couple, and we had never played them before either. We
watched them play last week in Singapore, so all we knew was from that,
and from video from All England..
Our
game was at a very high level in that match, and they could not keep up
with us. It was a great feeling, that we just ‘had’ them. We won
convincingly with 21-13, 21-16. GREAT!
The
quarter final: We were playing another Korean couple, and again a
couple we had never played before. A nervous start was characteristic
of a long match, where everyone was fighting. We did not play very
well, to say the least, and at the same time, the guy from Korea played
very good. Unfortunately, we lose the first set after having a set
point. 22-20 Korea. The second set was definitely up hill. We are
behind with 6-1 and 13-8 before we started to have a little more
contact. At 16-16 we are even, and we won the set 21-17. We were very
close to packing our bags and going home to Denmark, but we showed will
power and fight, and that gave us the win. The last set was close until
the interval. We had a lead on two points, which we increased
throughout the rest of the set. 21-16 and we are now ready for the semi
finals in Indonesia Open 2009.
Today
we are playing the Olympic Champions Lee and Lee from Korea. We met
them a month ago at Sudirman Cup, where we lost in straight sets.
Hopefully, it will be a great match to play, we are going to enjoy it
and see how far we can go. We are definitely going to give it OUR ALL J
Keep your fingers crossed!
17-06-09Out in Singapore and going to
Indonesia
Unfortunately, we did not win the quarter final in
Singapore Open. We lost to a Chinese couple – Zheng Bo and Ma Jin – who played
very well. We knew that it would be a tough match; we lose with 17 and 14, and
we never really get them under pressure even though we, in some periods, play as
good as them. It is far from impossible to get even closer to them! We will keep
on fighting…
All in all, it was a good tournament in Singapore.
Our goal was to get some match practice, where we could test our own game level,
and we did.
Now we are ready for our next tournament – Indonesia
Open, which begins today.
We are playing a couple from Taiwan. We have never
played them before and therefore, we do not know them very well, which is why
focus will be on our own game and on trying to play as good as
possible.
It will be good to play a match again after a few days away
from tournament. ____________________________________________________________________________11-06-2009We’re in the quarter finalsAfter 53 minutes of badminton, we had played ourselves in the quarter finals. Today there was again a lot of wind, maybe even more than yesterday, which also had its effect on our match.We started with the wind against us, and we were dominant from the beginning. We both had a good understanding of their game, and we were very well prepared. We were leading from the beginning of the set, and we maintained that lead throughout the first set, which we won by 21-9.The second set was a bit different. They made their game work, and the set was even until 17-17, after which they got the last four points. Our game in the second set was a bit insecure, and they were good at making the court big.The last set began as the first. We had the wind against us and were again completely dominant. At the interval, we were up 11-5 and had the match under control. Fortunately, we had more control with the wind behind us at the end of the match, and we won 21-10. GREAT!Tomorrow we are playing Zheng Bo and Ma Jin from China. They are a relatively new couple, who, however, already have had some really good results.We are ready and believe we can win, and we are really looking forward to the match…
10-06-2009A Good Start in Singapore OpenWe won relatively easy against Holland (21-10, 21-11), and we used the match to get into the hall. There is a lot of wind, so today was good practice for tomorrow’s match which will be considerably tougher to win, but definitely not impossible.We are playing an Indonesian couple. We have played them twice before, in the fall of 2008, with a win to each couple. Our last match was in the 1st round of Denmark Open, and of course I hope and believe we can repeat our success from then.
08-06-2009
World Championship training + Singapore and Indonesia Open
After coming home from Sudirman Cup
in China where we were no. 5, the training for the World Championships
has really set in. We train on court more than usually to try and
optimise everything for the Championships and to peak at the right
time. The World Championships are in India from the 10th to the 16th of
August.
We are going to use the tournaments as match-training for the Championships, which is our main goal.
In two days (first round in Singapore Open) we will play Jorrit De Ruiter and Ilse Vaessen from Holland. I am really looking forward to play...
Enjoy the summer :-)
26-02-2009
Not going to All England and Swiss Open
Joachim had surgery in his knee today and is therefore not playing for at least a month. Therefore we have to back out of the two Super Series – All England and Swiss Open.
He has been having problems in his knee for a long time, and now it was time to fix it. It was an uncomplicated operation so we both hope he is ready again soon.
Our next goal, if everything goes as we hope, is Sudirman Cup (World Championships for teams) in May. If we won’t make that, our next tournaments are Singapore and Indonesia Open which will be our preparation for the individual World Championships in August.
Not the best news, but we both have to make the best of the situation and move on from here.
I will do my very best to help him through this period.
20-02-2009Gold at the European Mixed Teams ChampionshipsAs expected, we won the gold for Denmark in Liverpool, but not without a fight against England in the final. I our group we played Ireland, Slovenia and Spain and had convincing wins in all matches. In the quarter finals we faced France, who we also beat with 4-1. In the semi finals we won against Russia who, quite surprisingly, had beaten Germany in the quarter finals.So it was the top-seeded against the second-seeded; Denmark against England. England was close to loosing their semi final against Poland, but won at the end with 3-2.Fischer and I had been chosen to play the mixed double in the final against Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg. We beat them in the quarter finals in Denmark Open in October so we believed we had a good chance of beating them again, but on the other hand we knew it would be difficult on their home soil with a large English crowd behind them. And so it was…We started badly in the first set and they, especially Anthony, were on us. I never shock my nerves and we lost the first set in no time.The second set was far better for us. We got closer to the net and played faster, without it ever being our best match. Unfortunately, we did not take advantage of a game point and instead they won 22-20.Too bad, because we both felt that we would have had good chances in a third set, but that was not supposed to be. An unfortunate start for the team match, but we knew from the start that it would be a 50/50 match.After our match, Joachim Persson lost the men singles, and down by 2-0 the pressure was on. Fortunately, the rest of the team could handle that pressure and Tine Rasmussen won the ladies singles quite fast. Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen won their mens double in three sets and it was 2-2 before the ladies double. Kamilla Juhl and Marie Røpke had been chosen to play. They played a good match and they won convincingly, so thereby we won the team match 3-2 after being down by 2-0.Great to win the gold.It was my first performance for mixed teams, but hopefully not the last The following week I have played two team matches for Greve. The first was away against Team Skælskør/Slagelse where we lost 5-1. Robert and I won our mixed double but unfortunately it was not enough to get points.Yesterday we played against Værløse and we won 6-0. Again, I played mixed with Robert, this time against Kamilla Juhl and Martin Lundgaard. On paper, a close match, and it turned out to be just as close as I had believed and hoped it would be. We won the first set with 28-26. The second set we won more convincingly with 21-12.With this win we are in the semi finals where we will face either BS Copenhagen or Lillerød. That match will we played on the 3rd of April. That is it for now.Take care :-)
05-02-2009
Not going
to the Danish Championships Joachim and I regret to have to pull
out from the Danish Championships this year. My foot is still really soar from
my injury, so it has not recovered fully yet, and therefore we have chosen not
to take any chances by playing the Nationals. Of course, we would have loved to
fight for the gold, but at the same time we have a period with many tournaments
ahead, and therefore we do not have the ‘time’ to be excluded from the game
with another injury. So this is the sensible decision even though it is
unfortunate.
We have both stayed in Copenhagen to train so we are ready for next week where we
go to England – Liverpool where the European Mixed Teams Championships
are played.
02-02-2009A little bit of everythingIt has been a while since I updated my website, and since then much has happened.Top 6 in the world in mixed doubles with Joachim Fischer:When Joachim and I started playing together 8 months ago, I had never dreamed of us, in this short period of time, being in the top 6 in the world. We are now, and it is great. Now we have to work hard and fight to maintain this and improve ourselves.A break from my women’s doubles with Mie Schjøtt:I have, together with my coach and Mie, decided to take a break from women’s doubles for a while. I have still not recovered 100% from my foot injury, and therefore I worry that it will break up if I play both women’s and mixed doubles at tournaments. This is of course unfortunate, but I have to recover fully. Until the World Championships in August, I will only focus on mixed doubles, and after that we will look at my situation with women’s doubles again.Team match for Greve:Since we returned from the East in mid-January, we have played two team matches. The first was on home soil against BS Copenhagen where we lost 4-2. I also lost my mixed double with Jens Eriksen against Thomas Laybourn and Gail Emms. It was not a good match from our team, but we picked ourselves up and won our match against Lillerød the following week. I played mixed doubles with Jens Eriksen again and we had a convincing win. The team match ended 3-3, so we had to play a golden set (MS) which we won, and thereby we won the team match 4-3.Tonight we play another team match. It is in Greve against VEB. I am playing mixed doubles together with our Polish Robert. It will be an interesting team match. We really need three points, so of course this is our goal.Selected to play the European Championships:I have been selected to play for the Danish national team which goes to England – Liverpool in a week. Our goal is definitely gold, so we hope we can win. The team is:Tine Rasmussen, Nanna Brosolat, Kamilla Juhl, Marie Røpke, Joachim Fischer, Thomas Laybourn, Mathias Boe, Carsten Mogensen, Joachim Persson, Jan Ø Jørgensen and me.It will be exciting – I am looking forward to it.My next big tournament is All England. Of course, there will be an update when we get closer.Until then, enjoy yourselves ☺
16-01-2009Quarter finals in Korea OpenToday, Thailand was better than us. We were too far from our top-level to beat Thailand today. We played too much on their terms and then they are strong. They exploited that we did not play our best.In spite of the fact that we did not play good it was a close match. That is of course positive for us, because we are not far from them even though we are not on top. Right now, I cannot really use the positive because I really would have liked to play tomorrow. This is however not going to happen.It is not a bad couple we lose to. They are no. 12 on the world ranking, but if we had only played 5% better today, and had been sharp in the final situations we would have won the game. We lose in 3 sets 21-17 19-21 18-21.Right now it is difficult being positive, but we have to remember that before we came here, we were injured for a long time. Considering this, I am very pleased about our level now. We played a great tournament in Malaysia, not as great here, but all in all it is quite good. We are definitely on our way back and hopefully on our way towards an even higher level.The most important thing now is for us to come home and train well without our injuries coming back. No more injury periods for us, please!!Now I am going back to Denmark, which will be nice :-)
15-01-20092nd round in Korea OpenWith a 6th seeding here in Korea we did not play yesterday, we saved our strength for today and the rest of the tournament. Today we played a Canadian couple – Fiona McKee and William Milroy. We won in straight sets 21-15 21-10. Not many problems today, we got used to the hall and is now ready for tomorrow when we play Thailand’s best mixed double.We have played them once before where we won in 3 close sets.If we reach our top-level tomorrow, we have good chances of winning, but it will definitely not be easy. We have to be ready.
11.01-2009Malaysia Open Day 4The semi final was the end for us after a close 2 sets match against the world’s no. 1 – Nova and Natsir from Indonesia. Our game was 5% below our level in the previous matches and therefore we could not win the match.They pressure me at the net which causes me to make a few more errors than I usually make. In spite of the fact that we did not play our very best, we were still Very close. The 1st set is close and we have a lead at 20-18. Unfortunately, we do not take this chance and they win the set 22-20. If we had won the 1st set, I believe we would have had a good chance of winning the match, but this did not happen.2nd set was like the 1st, very close, and we have a lead at 18-15. After 5 good serves and rallies from them they win the match.We are of course very disappointed because we were so close to making it through to the final against the Olympic Champions, Lee and Lee from Korea.Now we have to look at the positive, before this tournament I did not think our game level was as high as it is. This is great, and now we just have to relax our bodies before the next tournament in Korea.We are seeded 5-8 and will not play until Thursday.I will get back to you with, hopefully, just as good news from Korea Open.
09-01-2009
Malaysia Open Day 3
It is going great out here.
In the quarter finals today, we played Kien Keat Koo (KKK) and Hui Lin NG from Malaysia. On paper, a really good couple who have many results from the fall where they started their partnership. Joachim and I knew that we had a good shot at winning if we could play as we did yesterday. We did, and thereby we had a great win. We win convincingly in straight sets, 21-9 21-12.
Our tactics were to play on their girl and to get me on the net. This worked out great for us. KKK is known for making nice strokes and choosing the easy solutions, so when we played him we wanted to make it difficult for him so he had to work hard for their points. Everything turned out as we had hoped and fought for, so now we are in out first semi final in the East. Very cool! :-)
Tomorrow we will play the world’s no. 1 – Nova and Natsir from Indonesia. This is the only Indonesian couple we have not yet played and beaten. It will be difficult, but not impossible! We will do EVERYTHING in our power to take the place in the final from them.
08-01-2009
Malaysia Open Day 2
Today was again a really good badminton-day for Joachim and me. And again today it was a 3 sets match.
Today we played 7th seeded Vita Marissa/Mahammed Rijal from Indonesia. We knew we had a fair chance of beating them, but on the other hand, we also knew that we had to play at a high level to succeed. We did, and after 57 minutes we had won the match.
1st set: After a bad start with them leading 5-0, we got into the match. In Joachim’s serve we took 6 straight points and were back in the game. At the break, we get a lead on 4 or 5 points which we maintained throughout the set. We win 21-14.
2nd set: We were on the side with headwind and we had troubles at the net, which we had controlled in the 1st set. Rijal plays well from the back, and our defence is not strong enough in the headwind. (Before I had played in the East I thought the wind was completely overrated, but after playing in it myself I know how hard it can be and how significant the wind is. It is very different from Denmark and the rest of Europe).
3rd set: In the beginning of the final set, it is close, and at the break we have a small lead; 11-8. After the break, we establish a lead on 5 points. At 20-11 we ought to have closed the match, but they fight their way back, and both Joachim and I got a bit nervous before we won 21-18.
It is great being back – almost at our usual level. Tomorrow we will play Malaysia’s best mixed doubles, it will be exciting. I bet we will have all of Malaysia against us, but it will be great with enthusiasm from the crowd.
07-01-2009
Malaysia Open Day 1
A Win!
It is great sitting here at my hotel room after a win in today’s match against our English opponents. Perhaps, I am happier than usually after a first round win, but honestly, Fischer and I were not sure how our game level was after our injuries. Our game today was really good. We were on them from the start and were quickly in the lead, 5-0. We won the first set clearly with 21-11.
In the second set we had the wind behind us, and we are even until 14-14. We then make 5 easy errors, and they win the set 21-17. In the final set, we win the set with 21-12.
For both Fischer and me, it was a great feeling being back and furthermore, having our game work out the way it did today. Tomorrow we will meet the 7th seeded Rijal/Marissa from Indonesia. A match I look forward to because here we have a chance to compare ourselves to one of the really good doubles – they also have a Super Series win from the fall.
05-01-2009Malaysia OpenWe have arrived in Malaysia and the preparations for our first match Wednesday are going well. I am only playing mixed doubles in this week and in the next. I have chosen not to participate in women’s doubles because of my long injury period, and with this tournament being the first after Denmark Open I decided not to take any chances by playing both categories. This is of course unfortunate, but nonetheless the situation right now.Instead, Joachim and I are as ready as possible for our match Wednesday against Adcock/White from England. We are both ready and have no problems with our injuries, but naturally we have not been able to train 100% for a very long time leading up to these tournaments, but we are here now and will focus on the positive. We know our game is good enough to make it far, but at the same time, we are lacking match training, so every match here is a bonus. Our opponents Wednesday are good, so we have to be ready to win it. It will be exciting and we believe in ourselves! Of course we will go for the win.
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